Still Arguing for Civil Trials for the Uncivilized!

Every once in a while, I am questioned about my stand on one element of this ongoing debate or another and the question is almost always couched in such a way as to bring discredit to this particular viewpoint. I find that interesting in general because I am not thin skinned and because this argument is not difficult to follow. Because it is not difficult to follow, it forces people to consider their true nature and their true allegiances.

I have always maintained that my sole concern is for our Warriors. This is not some misguided plea to protect Warriors from the dangers of warfare, it is in fact an attempt to protect them from the negligence and agenda of those in our own government. So when I receive the occasional hand wringing diatribe that so often allies the hand wringer with the enemies of this nation and our Warriors, I feel compelled to 'chew butt'.

What follows is an answer I gave to one such person who is morally conflicted about the handling of prisoners at Gitmo. Of course she has no particular moral conflict with the way our Warriors are treated by their own government, foreign prosecutors, the national media, the lies perpetrated by dirt bags hiding behind the doctrine of Taqiyya and left wing nut cases that are looking for any opportunity to help dismantle this country.

As Follows:

First of all; there has never been any actual evidence of 'abuses' of the dirt bags being held at Gitmo. The only thing there has ever been is unfounded accusations generally levied by someone on the left trying to push their agenda or someone with an ax to grind.

Second, and most importantly; we are talking about 'people' content to cut the heads from their 'enemies' and in general anyone who doesn't agree with them or take a knee to their demon god, Allah. These people are not covered by our Constitution because they are not Americans. They are not covered by the Geneva Conventions because they do not represent any nation or it's people and they do not wear a uniform. The 'non-uniformed' clause in the Geneva Conventions is generally accepted to mean protection for civilians. By definition, civilians do not involve themselves in armed conflict and certainly not by siding with unrepentant murderers.

The only people still arguing for the 'entitlement of respect' for these dirt bags, are those arguing from the safety and sanctity of their well protected American homes - protected by the very Warriors they so easily cast to the wolves while denegrading this country and it's foundational underpinning.

These 'people' cross borders and do harm to any and all as they and their religious ideology see fit. As such and with the support of my prior two points; they should expect no quarter from any sovereign nation or it's government or their armed forces.

The whole bloody argument over Military Tribunals versus Civilian Court is a straw argument based on a faulty definition of who these dirt bags are and how they 'should' be covered by our Constitution. This argument is generally levied by those in our society lacking intestinal fortitude and who believe in one big happy world - without borders.

So for those who may be reading this who think that way, listen up; this is a world of sovereign nations, with flags, unique systems of jurisprudence, a well defined citizenry and borders. Any person(s) who desires to do harm to the citizens of this nation - of their own accord or in accordance with the doctrines of their demon god should beware...governments do not 'bear the sword in vain' (Romans 13). If you/they want to test the sanctity of this nation and this government, you/they deserve to be treated as no better than a piece of rotting meat! The elected 'leaders' of this country should get their confused thoughts in alignment with this as well.

This should always have been done in a Military Tribunal and EVERY piece of evidence garnered - by whatever means it was gathered, should be admissible. These 'people' deserve nothing, should expect nothing and their 'supporters' need to consider who and what they are; citizens of this nation or allies with unrepentant, ideologically motivated murderers.

SF

jb

From DADT to, In Your Face

Since first enacted, under Bill Clinton in 1993, the policy known as 'Don't Act, Don't Tell' has governed the way the Services have handled the inevitable inclusion of homosexuals and lesbians. Essentially, the policy recognized what all of us have known, that some in uniform have not been as forthright about their sexual proclivities as others. On the surface, the policy was there to promote order and discipline in an environment where these are not just hallmarks but crucial to mission success. It also gave silent consent to those practicing homosexuality to continue to serve as long as that practice was kept in private.

Gleaning any number of politically engineered surveys with specifically crafted questions aimed at people in uniform has provided a seemingly mixed accounting of perceptions of these sexual practices and both sides of the argument have used the data to sway the argument one way or the other.

While I am sure this engineering of craft gives some sense of power to the ideologues using the results, literally everyone in the argument seems to not have understood the ultimate price that will be paid for this gaming.

Societies throughout time have struggled with this issue. It is not new and we are not more advanced because President Obama will be signing a piece of paper this morning that will put us on par with the likes of Sodom, Gomorrah, Sparta, Pompei, the Roman Empire, ancient Greece, et al. But once again we are witnessing our government's failure to consult the annals of History to see the fruit of their decisions. Each of these aforementioned societies fell into ruin after having followed the same course of action our Congress and the White House just took. It is also worthy to note, that almost every vote, and every signature given to repeal this policy has been given by men - and women who have never donned a uniform in defense of this nation; Men and Women who on the low end of the scale receive $174,000.00 a year to safeguard not only our physical security but our moral underpinning as well.

The surveys given to the Warrior community that seemed to suggest the vast majority will welcome this policy change have been ever so cleverly crafted in a way that caused the respondent to consider whether or not he hates the person rather than the practice. Adm Mullen refused to answer Senator McCain's question on this issue because the Admiral knew of the deviously designed disingenuous structure of the questions. These questions were specifically designed to produce a result that upper echelon leadership could live with and to persuade proponents of DADT to 'move over'.

In their rabid zeal to darn the fabric of American society, they have thrust onto our military yet one more untenable item to deal with and this, during a time of war. If anyone thinks this will not have a detrimental effect on the state of morale and effectiveness across the board, you are naïve and foolish. This is especially true in a Service as intense and masculine as the Marine Corps. I have long believed that the axiom 'the Marine Corps builds men' to be inaccurate. The fact is men come to the Marine Corps and the Marine Corps trains them to be the finest Warriors the world has ever seen. Members of all of the other Services will tell you something similar. But I am convinced that men who come to the Marine Corps, a service that promises pain - in large quantity, are answering a clarion call. They don't join because the Marine Corps is a 'tolerant, all accepting' organization; it is because the Marine Corps squares off with danger - and destroys it with men genetically pre-disposed for the rigors of intense combat.

If Congress wants to 're-structure' something, they should look into their own souls and do a little re-tooling there. This latest unconscionable act by this morally stunted government will prove to have been one of the decisive nails in the coffin awaiting the sarcophagus - and the grave of this nation.

It should give pause to us all to consider the eventual plight of each and every nation in history that has openly traveled this route.

Members of Congress should glean the pages of history; secular and Biblical to see what happened to those men and women who have set their nations on the course this sitting government just has.

Semper Fidelis;

John Bernard

A Note of Encouragement and Warning For Allen West

The last two weeks have provided a flurry of 'activity', at least by Washington DC standards. The murder of 6 American Soldiers in Sangin by an Afghan man posing as a recruit wanting to become a border patrol/policeman caused Maine's Olympia Snowe to demand she be 'kept in the loop' about policy changes within the Pentagon designed to reduce or eliminate traitors in our midst. Unfortunately; Senator Snowe has been deceived or is self deluded in her assessment of the problem.

She apparently still sees this as the aberrant act of an individual rather than what it truly is; another manifestation of the true heart of a true believer in the actual, literal doctrines of Islam. In that; the Taliban, Al Qaida, the Muslim Brotherhood and for that matter Muslims everywhere have succeeded by once again successfully side-tracking an otherwise intelligent person, a westerner, an American and by some accounts a Christian from a core truth about the religion of Islam. Given that Ms Snowe's primary concern is narrowly defined to showing compassion for the family of a murdered constituent, she unwittingly gives aid to an enemy content to keep their enemy off balance.

The latest release of secret documents squirreled to wiki leaks director Julian Assange by a misguided and morally challenged Private First Class Bradley Manning has put everyone in government on the edge of their seats. This particular brand of treachery is not in league with that of Snowe's concern but will almost certainly produce repercussions throughout the military and diplomatic communities.

The content of private conversations, the disposition of troops in Afghanistan, language not 'friendly' to the Muslim hordes or their prophet, and a myriad of other things our blinded leadership has not considered will undoubtedly be used as propaganda and to fuel the blood lust of the hate filled adherents of this demonically conceived ideology. Are Manning and Assange enemies of the state? It depends upon the century in which you are asking the question. 100 years ago or even during WW II, they would both find themselves at the end of the hangman's noose. Today…..

The latest and greatest is, of course, the assessment of our strategy (s) in Afghanistan. By all accounts, there 'appears' to be progress. On the one hand, the Taliban seem to have been denied maneuver room. Much of the credit has been given to the covert ops side of the equation but it is quite clear that troop saturation in former Taliban strongholds is just as likely a reason.

If this proves to be so and given the incredibly poor showing of our Afghan 'counterparts', exactly how long should a reasonable man expect this to last? On the other hand; the winning hearts and minds campaign seems to be lagging. Apparently you can't win over an Afghan and true believer in Islam with 'treats'. Look; the fact of the matter is that Muslims in general and in particular Afghan's are pragmatic and opportunistic when it comes to their handling of infidels. Any gain is a win even if it means taking money and goods from the foolhardy and unknowing only to use it against them at some future date.

We have been unprepared for this kind of asymmetrical combat since day one and not because we aren't smart enough or our Warriors willing enough but because academia and their damaged prodigies now in politics and upper echelon military circles have opened the gates and accepted the wooden horse. There is absolutely nothing that can be done to change the minds of this current crop of leaders because they were in fact very properly indoctrinated by the academic authority figures of their day. They never stood a chance of becoming the kind of critical thinkers that would dare question the authenticity of the teachings they received in the great institutions of indoctrination.

Having had those lessons recently bolstered by the claims of our newest and, apparently, favorite advisory committee, The Muslim Brotherhood, why would they feel compelled to question it especially given the incredible opportunity to use something like COIN during the course of their individual careers? Unfortunately, for many General grade Officers, dusting off an old strategy like COIN is akin to a perverted game of Risk; what's not to like?

Enter Colonel Allen West. Colonel West, soon to be Congressman West has been selected to serve on the House Armed Services Committee. Given the content of his campaign speeches and especially those dealing with this particular issue, it is apparent, for the moment, that he could be the greatest ally our Warriors have inside the beltway; someone knowledgeable of the military, the battlefield, Islam and with the tenacity of a dog with a bone. My encouragement to Colonel West is to never forget 'your first love' and never forget that an appointment inside the beltway by reason of a won election is first, foremost and always, service. You must never forget that service comes with a cost to the one serving - and always be prepared to pay the price.

You will be dragged out and scourged as a hate-monger.

You will be reviled by those of lesser character and lesser understanding of the issues.

You may find yourself only serving one term because the electorate is fickle and largely without intestinal fortitude.

Compromise is the forte of the unprincipled and in this case will get Warriors killed - for political gain as it has been doing for far too long!

You will, however, be held in the highest esteem by the only group that really counts right now, especially during a time of war and that is, the Warrior community. Those who have chosen to put their collective backsides where their beliefs and hearts lie are in the end, the only ones that matter because their lives are the only ones truly at risk for the benefit of us all.

You can, in fact, be the one person in that miserable place we have dubbed 'the Dark City' that can turn this around and in the process, save lives - American Warrior's lives and maybe, just maybe, in the process hand to the American people the one thing they have forgotten counts in time of war; a victory.

God Speed!

Semper Fidelis;

John Bernard

Afghanistan; Continued Subterfuge in the Ranks of our New 'Allies'

Stratfor, The Washington Post and the Washington Times have all released stories detailing the few facts known in the deaths of another six (6) American Servicemen killed at the hands of their Afghan 'students'. Although a complete picture of the killings won't be known for a while, what should be even more clear is the high level of uncertainty that exists when dealing with a people who are ideologically opposed to our living.

This particular 'police officer' had joined the Border Police apparently with the intention of using the first opportunity to kill 'the invaders'. He got his chance. Of course the Taliban were all too willing to use his deed for their own ends; to raise the morale of Islamists everywhere.

Understanding that the realities involved in properly screening applicants for these kinds of positions are uncertain at best, there is absolutely no doubt that we will continue to see these kinds of covert attacks the longer we are there and still unwilling to see this enemy as he sees himself..

At least one of the variables would have been taken out of the nation building equation if we had, from the beginning, been willing to address the role of religious ideology as a motivation for these people. The fact that this is the only 'mainstream' religion that includes ritual murder/ethnic cleansing in it's doctrines of propagation should have given even the most liberal thinkers in this government pause when considering how to deal with each and every encounter with each and every aspect of the population there. Ignoring this element within the assessment of the overall population and the 'enemy' was reckless and negligent.

The blood of the these latest Soldiers is on the hands of the civilian and upper echelon military leadership of this country. Willful ignorance of an obvious threat is not only not a defense, it is in fact a knot in the hangman's noose.

Should anyone yet have questions about the true intentions of Karzai coupled with the ineptitude of our own State Department, they should consider the latest action by Karzai to release yet more jailed militants . While I quite frankly don't care how Karzai, his interiors ministers, police or military choose to handle problems within the borders of Afghanistan, it should be a concern for each and every American as long as American Servicemen are exposed to the obvious dangers in releasing known thugs back into the mainstream of Afghan society where our men are actively patrolling. Let's not forget; these dirt-bags were apprehended because of their active and passive roles in killing Americans.

How exactly do we justify expending American blood to bring these Islamic thugs to justice only to release them again knowing there is a very good chance they will kill more Americans?

Our newly elected representatives are going to have an opportunity to show their true colors in just a matter of days, really. The time between the closing of this session of Congress and the beginning of the next, when they will be given the controls, is their chance to learn from their new peers and reflect upon what they truly believe. If they believe they were elected to take charge of this failed policy of placating an unrepentant enemy and are willing to change direction, the fratricide defined as American leadership killing Americans, may end. If they decide the only reason they were elected is to fill the pockets of a selfish, self-centered population, then this will continue and the great GOP sweep of 2010 will evaporate by 2012.

Our newly elected hopefuls should be forewarned; no matter how selfish and self-centered the American population might be, they aren't going to tolerate much more blood-letting for the benefit of a people who have sold their very souls to Satan and who are not afraid to assess us according to our politically correct and cowardly leadership. If there could be a sin that is greater than abortion, sending Oath-bound Warriors onto a battlefield with an uncertain battle cry, led by political incompetence and willful negligence, is undoubtedly it.

As you approach your new and lofty chairs, in the Dark City my counsel is for you to do what your predecessors failed to do:

Nosce Hostem!

Semper Fidelis;

John Bernard

A Senior Marine Calls It as He Sees It

My good friend, SgtMaj James Sauer was moved by the seeming deliberate absence of mention of the death of a fellow Marine in Afghanistan on 9 November 2010, 2ndLt, Robert Kelly. I would like to preface his 'rant' with a few comments:

Our Founding Fathers understood the gravity of the stand they were taking when they penned the Declaration of Independence, Common Sense, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution of the United States and a list of other 'seditious' writings. They did so prayerfully and with a deep sense of providential guidance. They also understood precisely what the definition of service was and who actually paid the price for their service.

Our first representatives served out their tenure without pay and for limited terms because except for a few, most men could not leave their responsibilities to their church, families, businesses, and local communities indefinitely. They had an intrinsic understanding of their responsibility to tend to these - first.

I taught my children to emulate the positive characteristics of these great men that preceded them.

They understood :

1. True Service, costs the one serving.

2. That you serve these 4 Institutions - and in this order because this is how our Creator established them:

God, Family, Country, Corps.

My Son lived this to his death.

Money, as it always does in time, and with the help of the 27th Amendment corrupted the Constitution and all but threw open the coffer doors allowing Congress to determine for themselves how much money they 'deserved' for 'service' and when and how much their pay raises should be. To date the baseline salary for a sitting Representative is $174,000.00. The point is that without a salary 'commensurate' with their lowly electorate (I wonder how many of the electorate actually make that kind of money), only the rich could afford to serve and would thereby tip the scales of just governance to the rich.

And so we traded the hope of men guided by faith in the one God, love of Family, service to Country and the living out of Oath to Corps for men and women who are intellectually and morally challenged, seeking for themselves power and avarice.

I will let the Sergeant Major's rant express what most of us feel about this nation's current state of degradation:

SF

jb

A WARRIOR’S CONSOLATION

Brothers,

Our distress at the lack of coverage over Lt Kelly’s death is well justified. Lt. Kelly is not the only fallen brother ignored by those who owe him their freedom. Allow me to rant for a bit:

Those who have never gone into harm’s way or have nobody in their family (or among their close friends) serving just don’t give a damn (with few exceptions). The Congress doesn’t give a damn – they just want votes. The media doesn’t give a damn – they just want ratings. And, the president certainly doesn’t give a damn – he just wants worship.

On the whole, the American people don’t give a damn. They are complacent, will sacrifice their freedom for their comfort and financial security, and in the process fail to realize they are losing both. A recent poll shows that more than 40% of Americans would reelect a president who has shown open contempt for this nation to the highest office in the land – again.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a unique “American” holiday. It is not celebrated by anyone else in the world. For most Americans, Thanksgiving – like Memorial Day, Veteran’s Day, and The 4^th of July – is just a day off from work. Most Americans sat around watching a ball game, belting down the brew, feeding their overstuffed faces, and cultivating their cellulite.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the planet while sitting in the dirt and watching their “six”, sucking down water from a rubber bladder and cinching their war belts, America’s best may get to wolf down a hot Thanksgiving “tray-ration” between combat patrols.

Today is “Black Friday”. The particularly dimwitted are at the shopping mall as early as Zero Dark Thirty. They will stay there listening to their iPods and contemplating the latest escapades of some Hollywood nitwit until Zero Dark Thirty rolls around again.

Half a world away, America’s best were up before the sun to listening to the chilling pre-dawn wail of the muezzin’s fajr and the staccato sounds of war. They will remain in that dark place thanking God that they have lived another day while sounds of hell pound relentlessly in their ears. They will stay until their unit rotations or their lives come to an end. Back “home”, the dimwitted at the shopping malls and most of those still in the safety of their beds have not given our best Americans a second thought.

Unlike the great migrations of previous centuries, illegal aliens flock to our shores singing West Side Story’s “Everything’s Free in America” with no intent of ever contributing. We have lost our moral compass and with it our national identity. America is no longer a melting pot. It has become a chamber pot. We are gagging with the stench of “multicultural” pollution in the national bedpan and are not allowed to scream out for fear of violating the code of Political Correctness.

America – and indeed the whole of Western Civilization – has lost direction. Illegitimate births are the norm. Those who feel inconvenienced just kill their children in the womb at the cyclic rate of fire (4,000 per day) without a second thought. Marriage is becoming a thing of the past. Homosexual techniques are taught in the public schools, and you can marry a goat or your lawn mower if you live in Massachusetts.

The past two generations of school kids and college students – taught by teachers and professors schooled in the philosophy of Karl Marx – learned that historically America has been an international terrorist aggressor established by a pack of ill-meaning white men of European lineage: Columbus was a terrorist who infected the American Indian population with European disease; Jefferson was a slave holder fathering illegitimate kids with an African mistress; the Constitution means what you want it to mean – not what it does mean; Meriwether Lewis paved the way for the slaughter of the native population; Americans were all racists though more than 360,000 Union soldiers gave their lives to demonstrate and guarantee that “. . . all men are created equal.” Kids are taught that America is the only nation to have ever used an atomic weapon of mass destruction.

They are taught that Faith is incompatible with reason. They are infected with the ideals of the Enlightenment. Belief in God is an opiate for the masses of unwashed peasants – Man is the ultimate being in the universe – Science has all the answers. Abraham, Moses, and Jesus were simply good men of fiction (like Paul Bunyan – even though Paul and “Babe the Blue Ox” have been absorbed by oblivion). And, Mohammad, Jesus, and Moses were on the same moral par – though Mohammad was historically a butchering opportunist and probably possessed by Lucifer himself. They reject the idea that Western Civilization progressed and excelled by the synthesis of Faith and Reason – St. Augustine was to Plato as Aquinas was to Aristotle. They neglect to teach that it was the Christian monastic orders during the “Dark Ages” that preserved agriculture, food production and preservation, and established fisheries. Monks were the first to breed cattle for milk and meat. And, they pioneered the modern techniques of the brewery and wine vineyards. It was Cistercian monks that first developed the watermill for crushing wheat (hence the term cistern). They were the technical advisors to mining, metallurgy, and quarrying. And, because the monasteries were the depositories of the libraries of learning, the first universities in Europe were founded by Christian orders. Copernicus was a Third Order Dominican! Galileo ran afoul of the Church not because of his support of Copernicus, but because he published without independent verification from another source! The “Big Bang” theory was first proposed by Georges-Henri Lemaitre – a Jesuit! The Western world, and Americans in particular, have forgotten Jean de Brébeuf, Isaac Jogues, and the other North American Martyrs who endured the incredible hardships of exploration, mapping, linguistics, and evangelization in the New World while carrying out the “Great Commission” of Christ. Faith? What an old fashioned concept!

Hardly anyone under the age of forty is aware that when the Founding Father’s “mutually pledge[d] to each other our lives, our Fortunes, & our sacred Honor” that most of them actually sacrificed the first two! Few Americans – except Marines and those who live in Maryland – have ever heard of Bladensburg. Belleau Wood is mistaken for a French wine. Helmand Province is where they make mayonnaise. The mention of Audie Murphy may prompt some mid-life-aged airhead to ask “Was he in the movies?” without ever giving a thought to his exploits and heroism in Europe. Mention John Basilone and nobody will know who you are talking about. “Midway” is the place between your house and your in-laws. Inchon and Hue City are absent from social studies curriculum. If you venture to the shopping mall today (I have no respect for you if you do!) you may find someone who will recognize the name Salvatore Giunta. They will say “Oh that sounds familiar . . .” but they won’t have a clue who his is. If you tell him that he just received the Medal of Honor, they won’t have any idea of the significance and will forget the whole conversation as they break out their new Smartphone to tweet some other moron about the sale on sneakers at Foot Locker. Paul Ray Smith, Jason Dunham, Michael Monsoor, Ross MicGinnis, Michael Murphy, and Jared Monti will mean nothing to them. Those friends and loved ones that you and I know personally who spent their lives will be forgotten to history – except where their names are engraved on a stone or monument – and in our hearts. For the bulk of Americans, heroes are brainless athletes and vapid, no-talent entertainers.

Lieutenant Kelly? Well, like our other brothers who have paid the price, his name will be passed from us to our children along that narrow generational column that still appreciates sacrifice and believes there is still hope for a country that clearly appears to be circling the drain.

If it’s any consolation (though most Americans have no clue), I believe that God Himself directs an angelic “Pass in Review” and takes the time to welcome our fallen brothers saying, “You have fought the good fight, you have finished the course, you have kept the faith. Well done my good and faithful servant!”

“Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine; et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace.”

Semper Fi,

Jim Sauer

Afghanistan; The Strategy to Entice Negotiation Rather than Force Surrender

In a November 14th article, London Times Reporter Christian Lamb wrote that the average age of Taliban field commanders had fallen from 35 -25. The reason given by unnamed US State Department officials was that the high value target program had taken it's toll. This, they suggest, is evidence that COIN is on track and the reason why the Taliban are making slow but steady advances toward a table of reconciliation/negotiation.

In the piece she also quotes Leslie Gelb, president emeritus of the CFR, stating,

“The [devastating] truth is that US forces will be fighting in Afghanistan for at least four more years,".

Of course one has to wonder what he finds devastating about that. Is it that the war itself will continue beyond what presidential hopeful Obama proclaimed to be the drop dead date for combat operations there in 2008; because of his misplaced concern for the enemy or that more American Warriors will meet an untimely death at the hands of our misguided political and upper echelon military 'leaders'?

There is some concern, on the part of these experts that while killing off the current crop of leaders is a good thing, it may in fact prove to be a bad thing. After all, the older leaders are somewhat 'tired', they say, from their exploits to remove the Infidel while there younger replacements are likely to be full of vigour.

She also quotes David Kilcullen who laments;

"There are 6 million [military-aged] men in the Pashtun belt, you can't kill them all."

First of all, he discredits every honorable man who has worn a uniform by using the word 'military' to describe these 7th century, demonically possessed thugs. I, for one, demand two apologies; one for my Son who paid the ultimate price serving his country in the finest military organization on the planet, and one for me!

So what we have here is someone described as a counter insurgency expert who doesn't think the world's strongest, best armed military force can provide '6 million' hardened Islamists their life-long dream to meet Allah. Or is it that the very notion that it might require exactly that to bring these particular Islamists to their knees is too frightening a prospect for him?

My question to Kilcullen is; Why can't you kill them all? It's win/win. They get to meet their deity and we get to rid the earth of a scourge. Personally; I think Mr. Kilcullen is out of his league. It might look great on a resume to say you are an expert in counter insurgency, but being an expert who touts the wonders of a military philosophy that fails - generally, isn't going to look so great in the history books.

Not to beat a dead horse but why are we coaxing an unrepentant enemy to a table of 'negotiation'/reconciliation before they have in fact conceded the battle field? All this will do is embolden an enemy who already believes they have religious precedent to kill indiscriminately. Until such time as they have confessed that sin and professed a willingness to make atonement for their unbridled lust to commit ritual murder, I think the fight - the real fight, one without COIN, should continue. If the 6 million murder-aged men in the Pashtun belt are so motivated to leave this earth; we should accommodate them.

The closing remarks in the piece again quote Mr. Kilcullen who is completely sold on the idea that it is possible to get the Afghan people on board with our ultimate mission (whatever that is);

“There's definitely military progress, but does that take us where we want to go?” Mr Kilcullen asked. “We don't have a viable Afghan partner and we don't have the buy-in of the Afghan people. Without that, military progress may take us not to war termination but to war continuation.”

Again; since when does the plight of a people who hate us, take precedence over the lives of our Warriors - and our citizenry?

Semper Fidelis;

John Bernard

The 'Wisdom' of the Double-Minded Man; Hamid Karzai - and Friends

I am not a fan of nation-building, orchestrating black-ops inside sovereign nations or any other covert activity that is not specifically related to the 'forced removal' - from humanity, of an evil man. I have absolutely no problem with one nation removing a murderer and a maniac from our presence for the purposes of the peace and safety of our nation. Sorry...I'm American first!

Our lessons from the post World War I era have haunted us since the end of World War II. Every single skirmish/war/police action we have been involved in since has been a brutal disaster - including some of our covert efforts during the 'cold war'. That which is an irritant to one nation should be discussed in the light of day, disagreements laid out and discussed and if it becomes necessary, settled on the field of battle.

The conventional wisdom of 'peace-loving' men, diplomats and cowards is that war should be avoided at all costs. I am not of that mind. I believe war should be avoided but avoiding it at the cost of our national sovereignty, security to our citizenry, decimation of our Constitution or the gutting of our military and overall defensive posture is morally wrong! How is trading the safety and well being of your own citizenry and your own sovereignty justifiable in 'defending' the 'safety' of foreigners? When did the definition of a heroic act; of one man giving his life for another translate into 526 men in DC deciding to sacrifice the lives of others for so dubious a cause as the one we are involved in at present?

The stated reason for our continuing operations, under COIN, in Afghanistan has been for reasons of stability for the Afghan people. In some strange, unquantifiable way that is suppose to translate into security for us - even the re-seating of the Taliban in Kabul! The Taliban we removed and, of course, replaced with 'our man'.

If there is anything more aggravating than orchestrating the moves of a puppet, it is having the puppet talk back. Now, apparently, Karzai has decided that combat operations within Afghanistan or at least our involvement in combat operations in Afghanistan is too 'burdensome' for the Afghan people and he wants it to stop. Fortunately, Hillary Clinton told him that combat operations would continue. So did the NATO Secretary General Rasmussen.

General Petraeus, the 'architect' of modern American COIN expeditions, found Harmid's comments; troubling. Hey; I know! Maybe we could have Dave and Hamid and maybe Hillary meet somewhere neutral like, I don't know..maybe Canada - oh shucks, can't do that, the Canadians are now dealing with their own internal struggle to maintain a sense of tolerance being as members of the Muslim community there have now made it clear they want a 'parallel society', you know, kind of like the Amish only with different hats...and explosive vests.

Of course Karzai's comments could not possibly come at a worse time. His comments were made the same day 5 more as yet unidentified NATO troops died during combat operations around Afghanistan. Curious that our 'ally', Karzai, made no mention of that or whether he was troubled that 5 more foreign troops died attempting to make a better life for his beloved people.

Call me conspiratorial but it seems just a little convenient that Karzai's comments should come within a day of the CFR releasing their appraisal and recommendations for the road ahead in Afghanistan - a recommendation that basically throws in the towel (on COIN; they haven't the stomach for the kind of war that actually drives the Islamic hordes to their collective knees). His comments also seem to harmonize with this sitting Presidents new personal agenda; getting re-elected in 2012 which he had determined in 2008 (before his 'ascension'), would be war free. (More on the CFR members in a follow-up blog entry).

We have a name for this kind of knee-jerk/fire-fighting method of operation in the Marine Corps; it's called a 'flail-EX'. The best way to describe this activity for you is to have you play it out... Ready? While standing in an open space, where, hopefully, you won't hurt anyone else, wring your hands violently, with an expression of shock on your face. Simultaneously wildly flail your arms above your head, shrieking occasionally while running back and forth - aimlessly while declaring you are in charge!

Get the picture?

It would be funny if not the lost and broken lives of our Warrior community.

Semper Fidelis;

John Bernard

The CFR Assessment of the US Effort in Afghanistan (sigh...)

Stratfor just released a report that the CFR had completed it's recent assessment of Afghanistan and Pakistan and yes; I read the whole report. I stopped just short of reading the final 27 pages of notes and biographies of those who visited and then assembled the report.

Overall the report is objective but dare I say somewhat naive. As has been the problem since the very beginning of our military incursion into this region 9 years ago, the CFR, as our illustrious elected servants, manage to stay completely away from any discussion of religious ideology as a possible factor in the region's troubles. They go as far as to say that Afghanistan was at peace from 1929 - 1979, until the invasion by Russia (pg 26); daring to suggest that Russia and the US somehow fostered otherwise 'rational' people to act out in an irrational way. While what was there might pass for peace by their standards; stonings, decapitations, honor killings, rampant pedophilia, drug use, the poppy industry, slavery, general abuse of women and corruption in government are not generally accepted as the hallmarks of civil living.

The report does recognize that the mission (pg 30), while 'counter terror' in it's beginnings, has transformed into a more nation building effort and as time goes on, the line between the two blurs... Frankly, that is being exceptionally kind to the 'architects' of this debacle. The COIN effort has all but eliminated any prospect for a reduction - much less destruction, of the Taliban phenomenon. The Taliban itself has seen a growth in sister cells on both sides of the border until it appears the only thing likely to be left standing will be the true soldiers of Allah.

They quote Sec Def, in an appearance before Congress as stating the American people should 'rein in expectations' for the outcome of our very expensive efforts there, not to mention the cost in blood and should not expect a 'valhalla' (pg 31). I'm not sure if those remarks were intended to be witty, daunting or just plain realistic but the same question remains; why do we even care? If the original effort was to exact justice and to enccourage anyone (or everyone) within Islam to reconsider their goals of global jihad, why should we care if Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Syria et al, live or die? Why is it so complicated for these people to understand that our only legitimate concern should be for the security of the United States? If peoples from any country want to come along for that ride, then fine.

On (pg 33) we have another indication of otherwise intelligent people still having difficulty differentiating between an 'insurgency' and 'terrorism'. And again, absolutely no mention of any religious overtones. As though some form of alien malevolence suddenly crept into their sand blasted skulls and rearranged their otherwise docile DNA and caused them to 'act out'.

Those CFR members would do well to consider that men are not generally motivated to bond together for common cause without some kind of formal 'encouragement'. The Koran and, therefore, Allah has made it clear that obedient adherence requires the forced subjugation of all men in the whole world and that ritualistic murder is a very motivational tool in the effort to please Allah in this way.

There was one little piece of genuine sanity in the piece, almost an epiphany for them. On (pg 34) they acknowledged the Taliban gaining strength and momentum in light of our lackluster efforts grinding to a halt by our stubborn adherence to COIN, to stop them. They said that the counter insurgency effort was likely 'opening up space' for organizations like Al Qaeda to reassert themselves on sovereign, Afghan soil. Really? Didn't see that one coming...

Funny...Isn't that where we entered the scene, 9 years ago? Wasn't the Taliban in power in Afghanistan when we arrived? Wasn't it the Taliban that invited Al Qaeda to train on Afghan soil? Didn't we drive the sitting government (Taliban) from power; retribution for aiding Al Qaeda's efforts to deliver fuel laden aerial 'bombs' into the World Trade Towers?

So why are we now trying to coax the Taliban back into Kabul to 'share' power with the ever corrupt puppet, Harmid Karzai? Why aren't we demanding the Afghan people pay for their freedom in gold and blood? Why aren't we singularly focused on US security?

So many questions...so few intellectual 'servants' to get answers from and now; the CFR. It ain't getting better folks!

Semper Fidelis;

John Bernard

More on ROE, COIN, Governance and Apathy

I was brought into a thread started by a concerned citizen over the debacle in Afghanistan (the Pentagon really) and asked to put in my two cents. For what it is worth; here is what I shared:

We can fully expect the Rules of Engagement to continue to tighten and become even more deadly to our troops as time passes. The reason I say this has absolutely nothing to do with some ethereal ‘gifting’ some will imagine I possess but simply because I understand what has promulgated the need for them.

In the thread that was passed on to me earlier today; someone asked if there was a way to determine exactly how many American troops and Marines had been killed by the ROE and my answer is simple, perfectly logical, provable and without possibility of a proper retort; since June of 2009 – virtually every combat related death, in Afghanistan, can be laid at the threshold of the current ROE.

There is a general misunderstanding among those who are now ‘awakened’ about what those rules are, when such rules are dictated, by whom they are dictated and why they are as tight as they are at present. What I hope to do in the next few lines is to give you every bit of information you need to fully understand all of this as well as something you can use when you speak to your Congressmen and other ‘servants’ in government.

First you need to approach this with an understanding of just how ignorant nearly every one of our elected ‘servants' are on this subject.

Second, you need to understand that all of them feel they are indemnified, Constitutionally, from any type of penalty for faulty decision-making, willful ignorance, apathy, or half-hearted answers with the specific intent of placating seriously concerned citizens.

Third; you need to be illuminated on the history of Islam, Military protocol, Strategy, the relationship of the three branches of government with the Military and our collective relationship to the world.

Fourth; you will have to understand and more importantly make your ‘servants’ understand that the assessment that was done during the early planning stages of the war, on the enemy and the people of Afghanistan was fatally flawed, historically incorrect and doomed to place our troops in jeopardy from every component of Afghan society until our Marines and Soldiers are literally surrounded by an enemy that is 1400 years old.

Fifth; because of their shared religious heritage and worship of their deity Allah (who IS NOT the God of the Bible) and their desire to fulfill his mandates in the Koran to kill all those who will not take a knee to him, there is virtually no hope of reconciliation.

Sixth; because of our stubborn adherence to COIN and it’s damnable ROE, we have willfully turned over control of the battle field to the enemy.

The fact is, within the first 6 months of our involvement in Afghanistan, we had managed to topple the sitting government, scatter the Taliban like the vermin they are, establish our puppet (Karzai) in Kabul and instill a requisite amount of fear into the people, government, Taliban and neighboring countries of Afghanistan. Over the following years, we lost focus largely due to our involvement in Iraq.

By early 2009, we had re-focused on Afghanistan, but with a different vision and different purpose and therein lies the real problem. The real problem is not the ROE; it is the strategy that bore the ROE and that is Counter Insurgency Doctrine.

Although elements of COIN are readily found in almost every military engagement since the dawn of mankind and war, COIN as a stand-alone doctrine has only been with us since 1940. Since that time it has been tried by other countries and on other battle fields and in all but one instance – failed.

Because of the nature of COIN and the intent of the military force operating within that paradigm, it requires an unusually high degree of restraint when engaging the enemy and most especially around civilians. That is because, the actual intent is to strengthen the resolve of the people and their government to seek out and destroy the insurgency that has beset them. One of the problems in Afghanistan is that the Taliban has been erroneously identified as a foreign ‘insurgency’.

They are in fact an Afghan phenomenon whose ranks are filled largely by Afghans, Pakistanis and some foreign fighters of the same religion and similar philosophy of jurisprudence. The reason that I can say with absolute clarity that the insurgency, while part Pakistani, is a local phenomenon is because the border that separates Afghanistan from Pakistan, effectively splits the largest communal tribe in the region, the Pashtun and they have never recognized it since it’s appearance in 1894.

Because we have already determined (falsely) that the Afghans were illegally infiltrated by the Taliban and that they were not welcome, it was determined that Counter Insurgency Strategy would best serve the needs of Afghanistan and the security interests of the United States by minimizing civilian casualties while ‘encouraging’ the ‘innocent’ Afghan people to take an active role in eradicating the Taliban. This goal, of course, was watered down even further under President Obama who even removed typical military jargon from the lexicon so as not to ‘ create ill feeling’.

The ‘formal document’ detailing the level of restraint used on the battle field in which we find the ‘official ROE’, is secret and can only be viewed or discussed by people with the right security clearance. This makes a very convenient argument against hearings when they are demanded by our representatives. This argument, however, is ludicrous because the people who know our ROE the best, is the enemy; the Taliban.

I hope this has given you some indication of where we are at present. It is most frustrating for me to know that this is unlikely to ever be solved because there are very few in Congress – or anywhere in representative government for whom this is a front-and-center issue and given the results of the election; they are right.

The American people didn’t vote the way they did because of a concern for the plight of the military in Afghanistan; they did it for reasons of money and that is where your new crop of elected ‘servants’ will be focused. They can continue to be willfully ignorant while claiming adherence to the will of the people; the people can continue to believe what they have been told, that Islam is a religion of peace and the Pentagon can continue as they have against an enemy falsely assessed.

The President will find a reason to exit Afghanistan long before it becomes an election issue, Iran will have subverted the sovereignty of both Iraq and Afghanistan in less than two years, we will continue to distance ourselves from our only ally in the region, Israel and we, will become an anachronism.

Having said that; let me tell you this: You have listed the Oath on your web site but there is an equally important mandate handed down to each and every one of us who has actually ‘served’; they are the General Orders and the 5th general order is the one I want you to keep as your Holy Oath; “To Quit My Post Only When Properly Relieved’. I don’t know about you; but I am still breathing…

Semper Fidelis;

John Bernard

'How Do You Like Me Now'...

A few days ago, Stratfor reported that the Iranian government had been funneling money into the Karzai government through Karzai's Chief of Staff, Umar Daudzai. In the early days of the story, both Harmid and Umar denied the funding and the Iranians denied giving it. That was October 24th.

On October 25th, the Iranian Embassy in Kabul formally denied the report that Tehran sent cash payments to Umar, calling the report “ridiculous and insulting,” Later the same day, US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley released a statement that they (the administration, presumably), were skeptical of Tehran's intentions........????

On October 26th the Iranian government acknowledged (of course) sending regular installments to Kabul also stating that the payments were for Afghanistan's infrastructure so that the foreign [devils] would no longer have a reason to stay in Afghanistan.

Apparently Tehran didn't get the same memo the Obama administration apparently missed; the one stating that our intentions for being there were for reasons of US security and not Afghanistan's need for a face lift to it's infrastructure. I wonder what kind of 'infrastructure changes you make to rocky goat paths through the mountains..?

By November 1st, Karzai was promising to release details of the universally denied 'financial aid' given to Afghanistan by Iran. In the meantime, the silence from within the DC beltway suggests someone there is trying to figure out how to handle the inevitable questions from the media - should they ever decide to get off their collective backsides and try to connect the dots (Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan) - the New York Times effort aside.

Diana West wrote an exceptional piece on this that I hope all will read. But the truth is that there is yet an even more chilling prospect and one that suggests much, much more than simple international intrigue and a shared hatred of a common enemy. Let's not forget that Iran's version of Islam is particularly virulent. Their disdain for the United States, Israel, Jews and Christians knows no bounds and their willing adherence to the more troubling aspects of their doctrine make them a clear and present danger to us.

When you consider the clever doctrinal mentoring they afforded Al Sadr in Iran earlier this year and his consequent sudden interest in 'working with' Maliki - and Maliki's sudden interest in working with Al Sadr, it is clear that we are very close to seeing the emergence of yet another Islamic theocracy. When you couple Iran's new found sense of philanthropic kindness toward Afghanistan with their concern for Al Sadr's religious condition, it is hard to not see a cohesive plan. I mean, does anyone really believe the Iranians are only concerned about the 'infrastructure' in Afghanistan?

While this has been unfolding, Karzai made it clear that he intends to follow through with the shutting down of all civilian security agency business in Afghanistan leaving every foreign civilian contract worker virtually unprotected. Needless to say, every foreign contractor presently working and those looking forward to fulfilling future contracts in Afghanistan, is reconsidering their stake there. If there isn't any guarantee of protection for the work force - there won't be a work force. And our answer? Diplomacy...sort of.

With BO's eyes now firmly set on the rapidly approaching campaign for 2012 and the likely-hood that today will result in a watershed movement away from the 'throne of grace' at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, it is highly unlikely that the White House is going to suddenly develop a new found zeal for American Security. The need to bring our involvement in Central Asia to a fast close is job number one - regardless of the outcome; the spin doctors can work out the details and spoon feed the American population in the next few months.

It has been clear, since the beginning, that our elected 'servants' have been far more concerned with appearances and the impression we would be leaving on our 'global neighbors' than they have been with national security. Every effort they have pursued with vigor amounts to a first aid kit and an ambulance service. No one would seriously define what this batch of 'servants' have been doing as preventative.

Projection of Force and the Fear of annihilation, is preventative as well disciplinary. You want people to stop an activity, let them know they will pay a price for their abhorrent behavior. Threaten their lives and then be prepared to follow through. All we have told these 7th century thugs so far is that we have a lot of money to burn and that our Warriors lives are not all that valuable to us. Incidentally; that puts this government on par with our Islamic enemy. Our Warrior's lives are of zero value to them as well.

The Islamist, however, does experience fear. We, have the capacity to provide them with that experience as well as affording them the opportunity to test their belief in the existence of their deity by meeting with the Deity who awaits us all!

A couple of tankers of chitterlings and fat back would help too...

Semper Fidelis;

John Bernard

Afghanistan; Understanding the Failure

A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of speaking on a radio show broadcasting in Florida about the complexities that arise when you attempt to fight an enemy with a faulty assessment. Of course we were talking about Afghanistan in particular but Islam, globally. During that interview the Host made a point of saying that it appeared a larger percentage of the American population was becoming more educated and more engaged in this conversation. He essentially asked if that gave me some comfort and I told him yes but with a caution.

From my vantage point, we are now at a very dangerous point in this discussion. People are generally lazy when it comes to foreign policy and politics in general. It requires effort to study the issues enough to understand them and then the politicians to fully understand their stand on any issue. In foreign policy it requires doing that but then being willing to delve deeper to more fully understand whatever history there may be between players on the world stage. Although having the discussion of the Rules of Engagement (ROE) finally on national TV is promising, the fact is, knowing just those three words does little to change policy.

What was once considered to be a sound high school education in world history would have been enough to allow the student the ability to understand the dynamics of our many cultures and the basic geography of the globe. These would then have been enough to make people ask whether or not the rules under which our Warriors have to perform made sense and then to ask what was promulgating those rules.

At least some of us were intrigued by what we had learned and were motivated to then read a little bit further. Of course we didn't have the list of 'distractions' available to the average high school student of today and the average history teacher, of that generation, still believed it was all right to be an American. For instance, Thomas Jefferson, while his Christianity is in question, never-the-less understood the value of Biblical teaching and morality. His influence caused Biblical morality to be infused into the fabric of the constitution that would be the foundation of jurisprudence and governance in this country. And just as importantly, he understood our age old enemy in Islam.

Since those days we have watched our halls of education become temples of indoctrination; performing a kind of bloodless sacrificial offering on the altars of misinformation in an effort to expunge from the American psyche the evil concept of American nationalism - certainly the idea that our founding fathers established this country with a Judeo/Christian world view. And if the entire American model was so evil, how could anyone justify going to war to defend it or us - ever?

In order for that kind of training to take root, you also have to paint every other culture and their ideology as superior to what we have traditionally held dear, here in America. Convince a child of this and it is nearly impossible to recover him later in life.

So it is of little surprise that when academics began telling us that Islam was a 'peaceful' religion only 'seeking God', wisdom and dealing with the inner struggle (jihad), that in a century, our entire country would view Islam as just another religion. Of course, history and the extraneous writings of the Islamic Scholars tell us different. The actions of the true soldiers of Islam, tell us different. The actions/inaction of the 'innocent' population in Afghanistan tell us different. So how is it that we could so profoundly bumble what should have been a fairly simple mission there? With the strongest, best trained, best equipped military machine ever assembled in the history of mankind, how is it that we seem to have been halted by so primitive a force? Answer; Faulty assessment.

Our original Mission was clearly stated: Locate, Close with and Destroy the enemy that attacked us on 9/11/2001. Identify all those who gave them shelter, comfort and the ability to plan and train for an attack on US soil and destroy them - then come home. There was one caveat to that 'Commander's Intent Statement'; be prepared for a long war. What this told us was that this enemy was insidious and tenacious. It told us that even after we had completed this mission, there would undoubtedly be other attacks and other missions to hold them accountable for. Could it be, that in those early days, we were willing to assess the enemy in a way we have since lost the stomach for? Or could it be that the evil indoctrination of several generations has caused us to doubt the morality of self preservation and the damnable nature of Islamic doctrine and it's adherents?

Once the 'Commander's Intent' was made clear, the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff began assembling an order we know as the Five Paragraph Order; acronym SMEAC which stands for Situation, Mission, Execution, Admin and Logistics and Communication. It is in the pages of the 'Situation' paragraph that this mission began to fall apart for within this paragraph resides the fruit of our intelligence gatherers and the assessment of the enemy, his doctrine, the population of the country you will be fighting in and the government of that country.

The confluence of decades of academic socialist indoctrination, the watering down of the truth of Islam, the tearing down of the American ideal and the decision to use operatives from the Muslim Brotherhood as advisors conspired to insure we would fail at this juncture of the planning phase of the war. And this has colored our entire understanding of how and when we should engage this enemy.

Once the order was written, with it's faulty assessment, it was all but inevitable that something like the 80 year old doctrine of Counter Insurgency (COIN) would be hauled out, dusted off and re-tooled to govern our actions against an enemy who had been so hopelessly, falsely assessed.

Now for the damning statement that unhinges all who in their gut sense something is wrong; the Rules of Engagement, which I have made the case are directly attributable to all of the deaths of our American Warriors, is precisely correct. They are precisely correct if you are fighting within the paradigm of Counter Insurgency Doctrine. The question then, is not how to change the ROE, rather it is whether or not COIN is the right strategy under which to conduct combat operations against this enemy, in this country.

And the answer is a resounding, no!

Semper Fidelis;

John Bernard